Some people are born speakers. Most are not. Hence, you are not alone when you say that you do not enjoy making speeches and speaking in front of a large audience. Stage fright is inevitable. Actors are always nervous to a certain degree before every play.
Perhaps you think your career does not entail public speaking. Well, this is where you’re wrong because no matter what your job is, public speaking ultimately will come into the picture in some ways. This chapter, therefore, focuses on the significance of public speaking in our daily lives and on some specifics of the communication process.
Four General Types of Public Speakers
CATEGORY
CHARACTERISTICS
The Avoider
Does everything possible to avoid facing an audience. In some cases, avoiders seek careers that do not involve making presentations.
The Resister
Becomes fearful when asked to speak. This fear may be strong. Resisters may not love to speak in public, but they have no choice. When they speak, they do so with great reluctance.
The Accepter
Can do presentations but is not that enthusiastic to do them. Accepters occasionally give presentations and feel good about them. Occasionally the presentations can be quite persuasive, and satisfying.
The Seeker
Always looks for opportunities to speak. Seekers understand that anxiety can be a stimulant that fuels enthusiasm during presentation. Seekers work hard at building their professional communication skills and self-confidence by speaking often.
What Roles Can Public Speaking Play in Your Life?
Success in public speaking can open a whole world of opportunities for you. It can help you conquer new frontiers. It can broaden your horizons through personal development, influence, and advances in your profession.
1. Public Speaking Improves Your Personal Development
In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, realizing man’s self-worth ranks the highest. Giving speeches helps the speaker realize self-worth through the personal satisfaction he experiences whenever a good speech is given. The speaker becomes more confident especially when the audience responds positively. It also reduces anxiety when asked by an authority to speak in front of some people.
There was once a student who dropped a course five times because he hated speaking in front of the class. But after a self-study on building up confidence, he decided to give public speaking a try and was successful. In fact, he came to enjoy the experience and even volunteered to give more speeches.
Through public speaking tools like research, conceptualization, and organization, you have a systematic and effective way of presenting your ideas; and thus, you will be able to express yourself better. You will also become more open to other people. Furthermore, speaking skills put you in a more significant role as you talk with people of high standing. Lastly, public speaking satisfies your sense of achievement when the audience accepts you warmly. This reflects your level of communication skills and acumen. All these contribute to your self-esteem.
2. Public Speaking Influences Your Society
It is not only you who can benefit from the art of communication but society as well. Most governments heed the voice of their citizens; with proper communication skills, you can represent the public in voicing out your rights and opinions.
An example of this would be a community discussion. Usually when a neighborhood holds regular meetings, it discusses certain issues or courses of action. In the discussion, various opinions are expressed and there you have a clear interplay of public speaking.
People from all walks of life need to speak in public, whether formally or otherwise. From kids reciting in school, to folks in a town meeting, to citizens voicing out national issues; from a plain market vendor, to a president of a company. There is really no way you can avoid public speaking.
3. Public Speaking Advances Your Profession
Public speaking can help in your career, and eventually, your finances. Usually, success is gauged by answers to questions like, “How long have you been in your job?” or “Do you hold an MBA degree or something similar?” However, researchers have proven that the best indicator of success in any profession is whether the person is often asked to give speeches. Those who give more speeches tend to have higher salaries than those who give less or no speeches.
Take this average engineer. She enrolls in a public speaking seminar that teaches two hours a week for six weeks. After two months, she is promoted to senior engineer! Her boss has been noticing her superb presentations.
The longer you work for an organization and the higher you climb the organizational ladder, the more your boss will ask you to preside over meetings and to give talks to the staff and subordinates or the clients. The higher your position, the more your responsibilities in leading people under you; and the more you must speak effectively. A manager once said, “From the chairman of the board to the assistant manager of the most obscure department, nearly everyone in business speaks in public or makes a speech at some time or the other.”
Aside from big organizations like IBM and General Motors, small organizations and businesses in the country also need workers who are good public speakers. Take the high school coach, for example. If he is not persuasive enough to tell the school board that new gym equipment is needed, the school athletes might have to bear with the old gym equipment.
In the same way, if parents are not convincing enough when they complain about a school dress code, their children may end up still wearing uniforms in school. If salespeople cannot explain their products with a convincing sales pitch, then fewer people would buy their products. This is also true for nurses, doctors, firemen, police personnel and other professions. Even employees of General Motors meet regularly to make group decisions that they will present formally to management.
The bottom line is this: Whichever road you take, you will encounter instances that require you to speak in public.
Filed under Delivering Your Message Effectively by on Sep 26th, 2010. Comment. 
News interview with Mike Aguilera talking about how to conquer the fear of public speaking. Additional information and tips at: www.MikeAguilera.com and seminar at: www.MikeAguilera.com Get your copy of The Instant Zone Technique CD at: www.mikeaguilera.com www.MikeAguilera.com
Filed under Education by on Sep 26th, 2010. 25 Comments.
When I ask my audiences their number one challenge with public speaking, they overwhelmingly say, “to overcome the fear of public speaking.” It’s okay to have “butterflies.” The key is how to get them organized, focused and flying in formation. Here are 10 tips for delivering a more powerful, persuasive presentation. Practice these techniques consistently to improve public speaking skills.
1. 95% of your success is determined before the presentation. Your audience will know if you didn’t rehearse. Rehearsing, or “rehearing” yourself minimizes 75% of your nervousness. Rehearse standing up, or better yet, ask someone to videotape you. The camera will be your most objective ally. The more comfortable you become with your material via rehearsing, the more comfortable you will be with your body language.
2. Either memorize or “know cold” your opener and close. Two minutes each for an opener and a close is enough. The most important thing your audience will remember is your closing. Second most important thing they’ll remember is your opener. Start with something attention grabbing, like a quote or statistic, which relates to your topic. Never start with, “Good Morning.” It is obvious and boring.
3. Public Speaking: 24 hours before your presentation:
A. Have a quiet dinner with a quiet friend. (This may or may not be your spouse!) You won’t be as concerned about your public speaking skills if you can put your nervous system on glide.
B. The evening before, put your presentation on audiocassette as background noise one hour before retiring. Listen to your opener and close before bedtime as a review.
C. No massive changes 24 hours before. Nothing increases the fear of public speaking more than rewritting your material at the last minute. Impromptu speeches notwithstanding.
D. Visualize your presentation going smoothly and successfully. All Olympic athletes use this technique, and it works with public speaking as well.
E. Review your notes and visual aids the evening before. Your notes should only be “fast food for the eyes” in bullet form, and are NEVER read to the audience.
F. Eat a good high protein breakfast the morning of your presentation. Even if you’re not speaking until that evening, feed your mind and body the proper fuel.
4. Before your presentation, check yourself in a full-length mirror. A dear friend of mine forgot to do this. During her keynote speech in front of hundreds, someone quietly pointed out that her skirt was tucked into her pantyhose!
5. Public speaking and purpose: When organizing your talk, define your purpose. Why are you there? Why are they there? Is this a sales presentation? A community watch group? If you present technical information, is this an information/knowledge transfer or a decision briefing? When presenting technical information make certain not to overload your audience with too much detail, or too much on each slide. Tailor your message. Define your objective.
6. Know your audience before designing your opener and close. It is imperative that you “speak the language” of your audience. What are their ages? Percentage of males/females? Are they highly technical or non-technical? Do they want to be there or is this mandatory? What are their expectations? If you are a scientist or engineer, speak to the “lowest common denominator.” Technical presenters have a propensity to use a lot of technical jargon. Does the person in charge of funding understand the language?
7. Avoid using too many slides. Visual aids are wonderful tools as long as they’re used to enhance the information. A common mistake is using the visual aids as the presentation. Look at the audience frequently to establish rapport and a connection. In almost every presentation, you are there to “sell” them not simply “tell” them. Do not look at your visual aids other than a quick glance, and never read them. Never turn your back on the audience to read slides. They will not look at your slides. Their minds will start to wander. Remember, you are your own best visual aid.
8. Good public speaking skills mean being prepared. As the saying goes, prior planning prevents predictably poor performance. Planning and preparation will reduce nervousness 75%. Again, your audience will know if you didn’t rehearse. Consider hiring a public speaking coach. The dollars invested may well be worth their weight in gold.
9. The Q & A period and how to handle a hostile audience. The second most frequent comment I hear in my public speaking seminars is “What if they ask a question and I don’t know the answer?” Or, “What if someone in the audience is a know-it-all and doesn’t like me?” Avoid being argumentative. If you don’t know the answer, ask if someone in the audience has the answer. Or, simply let them know when you will get back to them. Make certain you do. When you lie you die. It destroys your credibility.
10. Variety and venue. Variety serves as a “wake up call” to your audience. Examples of adding variety: humor, relevant stories, quotes, voice inflection, paired and group activities, pauses, audience participation in the question and answer period, and slides or other multimedia. As for your venue, are your visual aids appropriate to your size of audience? Will everyone be able to see them?
Lastly, make sure to confirm the time, date, and place with the appropriate contact person. If possible, arrange to see the room ahead of time so you can practice visualizing in the exact location of your presentation. At the minimum, arrive at least one hour ahead of time. To improve public speaking skills, and overcome nervousness, nothing works like being prepared.
Copyright 2006 Colleen Kettenhofen
Filed under Speaking by on Sep 29th, 2010. Comment.
There are 4 possible ways to deliver your speech in public speaking. Each way has its’ pros and cons. The method that s picked will depend on your circumstances. However, there is one way that is the most effective in the majority of cases.
The 4 ways to deliver your speech are:
1. Read it to the audience
In this way the speech is written out and read aloud word for word to the audience. When giving your first speeches this method is attractive because the speaker does not rely on their memory due to the security of the speech. This does ensure that nothing is forgotten and the speech is accurate. The disadvantage is that you lose your personal appeal because your head is bowed reading. And it is difficult to talk expressively and maintain a conversational aspect to your delivery. However it is useful in political and highly controversial speeches to read aloud to prevent misquotes or being sued.
2. Memorize and deliver to your audience
The advantage of this method is that you can employ phrases that you wouldn’t normally use and you are not tied down to reading your speech. You can look at your audience and move around. The difficulty with this approach is if you forget your “lines” and then struggle to determine where you are up to. Also the natural conversational quality of your delivery is difficult to maintain and it is often stiff and stilted.
3. Impromptu Speech
In an impromptu speech the speaker has not prepared a speech and is delivering his thoughts and word on the spur of the moment. This method is very flexible but rarely achieves the quality of a well prepared speech. It is best avoided if you can. But if you think you may be called on to say a few words it is handy to have a few “lines” prepared to avoid any embarrassments. Most experienced speakers have developed some reliable responses to use when they are called upon to make impromptu remarks.
4. Prepare a speaking outline and memorize the ideas
This approach is known as the extemporaneous method. The speech can be delivered with or without notes. When thoroughly prepared (which can include writing your speech in full initially) and practiced there is little need for notes. This is the easiest way for the speaker to achieve the ability to speak in a natural conversational manner. It also gives the ability to adapt the speech for any unexpected events. It does take more time and preparation than the other ways outlined here.
When starting out, it is tempting to read your speech or memorize and recite it word for word. Be careful with these methods because it is difficult to connect with the audience.
When called on for impromptu remarks ensure you have a few memorized responses (an emergency kit). The preferred method is to prepare thoroughly for your speech and memorize the ideas. Your speech has the potential to be more natural and to be more effective in achieving your purpose.
Filed under Speaking Skills by on Sep 30th, 2010. Comment.